TV Long AN (LA34) broadcast live a panel discussion on importance of biodiversity. From left to right Dr KL Heong, Dr Stefan Hotes, TV presenter, Mr Cuong and Professor Nguyen Van Hyunh. Other panel members in the audience were Dr Monina Escalada, Dr Wai Hong Loke and Mr. Nguyen Van Hong

Every year International Day for Biodiversity (IDB) is celebrated on 22 May. Vietnam working in collaboration with the Centre for Agricultural Bioscience International (CABI) and the Department of Community Ecology Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ, Halle Germany launched a TV series of entertainment-education programs to educate rice farmers about biodiversity, ecosystem services and ecological engineering techniques to conserve biodiversity in rice landscapes. Entertainment- Education is the process of designing and implementing a program (example a TV series) to both entertain and educate so as to increase audience members’ knowledge, create favorable attitudes, shift norms and change behavior.

Other panel members in the audience were Dr Wai Hong Loke, Dr Monina Escalada and Mr. Nguyen Van Hong.

This new series builds on successes in using entertainment education in helping rice farmers reduce insecticides through a radio soap opera series and a TV series launched in June 2012. In both cases, significant changes in farmers’ beliefs and practices were recorded among those farmers exposed to the series. The TV series in Vinh Long created favorable attitudes among farmers towards adopting ecological engineering practices, like the growing of flowers on the bunds.
The new series called “Cong Nghe Xanh” or “Green Eco Engineering” will feature episodes on the benefits of bees and pollination, the roles that predators such dragon flies play in the ecosystem, the role of decomposition in the ecosystem, natural biological control and other ecosystem services. Each 15 minute episode is composed of 3 parts: a short drama by comedians, explanation by experts and summary of the lesson in the episode.